Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

Envy is the basis of democracy.

Politics is the art of the possible.

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.

I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!

Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.

Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses: they last while they last.

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.